Thursday, June 18, 2009

The batting needs the likes of Shoaib Malik to really get his show going.

Match facts

Thursday June 18Start time 1730 local (1630 GMT)

Big Picture

It's first a clash of ethos, of philosophies and even of time, more than a semi-final. Here is truly man against machine, the art of cricket against the science of it, cricket's future and cricket's past. South Africa's progress to this point has been smooth, well-planned, calculated and inevitable, as if their players were born to do this. Pakistan have got here in shambles - losing games, winning some, treating it all as a bit of fun - and the players not so much born to do this are struggling to discover why they are doing it at all.

South Africa lack nowhere and nothing. If Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith are the efficient drones at the top, there is heart in the middle, with the ever-frail skills of Herschelle Gibbs and the creativity of AB de Villiers. Even Albie Morkel, in whom there are glimpses of Zulu, thankfully smiles more. They've always had pace, but now they even have spinners, who are not batsmen forced to bowl. Sure, they are a little one-dimensional (watching videos of Umar Gul's yorkers?), but they are spinners - South African and successful; how often have we said that in the past?

The whole machinery is intimidating, determined to iron out all kinks, the mission pre-programmed; with seven consecutive wins in this format, they have apparently also taken the inherent unpredictability of this format out of the equation. They are well-trained, well-oiled, and their psychologist talk about 120 contests and of processes over outcomes and how choking is not really an issue anymore. They win even warm-up matches and the dead games because every game counts. They are cricket's future.

Pakistan are the past. They are wholly dysfunctional, but just about getting along, though unsure where they are going. They don't control their extras, they don't run the singles hard and they field as if it were still the 60s. They are least bothered about erasing the flaws because any win will be in spite of them. They did hire a psychologist though, and you can only imagine what those sessions were like and how much they actually talked about sport and cricket. There are permanent mutterings of serious rifts. They may not bat, bowl or field well all the time, but sometimes, they do what can only be described as a 'Pakistan': that is, they bowl, bat or field spectacularly, briefly, to change the outcome of matches. You cannot plan or account for this as an opponent because Pakistan themselves don't plan or account for it.

It can come from any person, any discipline, but on evidence, it is likelier to come from the bowling. The batting needs Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq to really get their show going. A piece of fielding brilliance cannot be discounted, but generally both Pakistan and West Indies have happily disproved the dictum that in T20 cricket you have to be Jonty Rhodes to get anywhere. Heroes will likely be found among the Umar Guls, the spinners and maybe even Mohammad Aamer, who is a throwback to the late 80s and early 90s, when Pakistani fast bowlers were born ready to play international cricket.

The pressure on South Africa however, will be greater. They are expected to win this and anyway they will always have the whole 'chokers' tag to deal with until the day they actually lift a big trophy. It doesn't help that they look as good as they did during the 1999 World Cup, though they are easier on the eye. Pakistan, as Younis Khan said before leaving for England, won't much mind a semi-final spot; Kamran Abbasi rightly noted that they may have had an easier ride to the semis than most but no country has had a rougher two years. Clearly they'd love to win it, but they have already achieved more than many thought and a loss wouldn't be the end of the world. But importantly, as the only side to make it to the last four in 2007 and 2009, they have underscored their significance in this brave new, T20 world, a world in which they absolutely cannot be ignored.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

Pakistan WWLWL

South Africa WWWWW

Watch out for...

The whole South African machinery is intimidating - determined to iron out all kinks, the mission pre-programmed.

Albie Morkel has been a quiet, steady ever-present through South Africa's tournament. But he is capable of bigger, more explosive things especially with the bat and this match - and potentially the next - are the best platforms for it.

Shahid Afridi's moment turned the tournament for Pakistan, an outstanding catch hastening New Zealand's collapse, and possibly himself - at least with the bat. Since then he has batted with rare sense, as everyone has wished him to, and at little expense to his strike rate. He will be a factor with the ball anyway, but if he gets going with the bat, then South Africa will panic.

Team news

Pakistan have finally settled upon what they feel is their best line-up, more by chance than design. Barring injury, there are unlikely to be any changes.

The surface for this match is two along from the one that turned square for the South Africa-India match and is expected to be harder and offer less help for the spinners. However, the slow bowlers have had an impact throughout so are still likely to be key. Steady rain arrived in Nottingham on the practice day, but is due to clear overnight and the forecast for Thursday is fine.

Stats and Trivia

Pakistan and South Africa have six bowlers in the top 10 wicket-takers of the tournament, though Pakistanis occupy the top two spots.

Three of the top 10 run-scorers of the tournament are from South Africa and Pakistan, with AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis at numbers two and three..

Quotes

"Our bowling has been great and all of them are now bowling in rhythm. The batsmen have to support the bowlers if we are to win this cup."

Younis Khan points out the areas of improvement.

""I think we've come past that. This team has come a long way and I think we've proven that. Hopefully we can show that on Thursday, that's what is exciting about it. "

Graeme Smith dismisses talk of being 'chokers'.

"It's great to be in a position where you can rock up to a ground, look at the wicket and know you have all the bases covered. We aren't really worried what the wicket will be."

Mark Boucher believes South Africa can cope with any conditions that are thrown at them.

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Did u know?

Mohammad Yousuf, in successive ODI innings against Zimbabwe in 2002, scored 141*, 76*, 100* and 88, thereby scoring a world-record 405 runs between dismissals. The previous record of 400 belonged to Lance Klusener, who scored 103*, 35*, 13* and 35* against New Zealand, and then 12*, 52*, 48*, 52* and 46* in the World Cup in England, before finally being dismissed for 4.